Gary Neville hits back at Arsenal fans after they dig up clip of Man Utd legend criticising Mikel Arteta
GARY NEVILLE has hit back at Arsenal fans after they dug up a clip of him criticising Mikel Arteta.
The Manchester United legend is not afraid to voice his opinions on the beautiful game, having won numerous trophies as a player.
Neville collected eight Premier League titles at Old Trafford.
And Arsenal boss Arteta is now hoping to land one of his own after taking the Londoners eight points clear in the title race.
The Spaniard has done a magnificent job with his Gunners side this season, winning 22 of 28 matches and losing just three times.
But things were different a year ago as Arteta struggled to push for a spot at the top table.
He ended up missing out on Champions League qualification to rivals Spurs by just two points.
And in March 2022, Neville spoke about how fourth place was the best finish Arteta would ever hope to get as Arsenal manager.
Gunners fans have now unearthed that same footage from The Overlap to throw at Neville in light of Arteta’s current title hunt.
Neville at the time said: “My concern is if Arsenal finish top four [last season] – which, to be fair, is 50/50, I still think there’s a long way to go in that race – but if they finish fourth, that’s in some ways as good as it gets.
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“You’ve got Pep [Guardiola], [Jurgen] Klopp, Man United, Chelsea. Where can Arsenal go?
“They’re not going to compete. Mikel Arteta is a brilliant coach. I love that we’re seeing a team that he’s getting the maximum out of. I can see exactly how he wants to play. We all can.
“But he gets to fourth, and if he was really hard about it, he’d probably say, ‘Right, that’s the best I can do there, I’m going now and getting my next job’.”
And Neville refused to back down from his comments made a year ago, reminding Arsenal fans that they themselves wanted Arteta SACKED.
An Arsenal fan page first said: “One year ago today, Gary Neville said that if Mikel Arteta finished fourth with Arsenal, he’d have to leave as he wouldn’t be able to achieve anything more.”
Neville replied: “One year ago you lot were asking for him to be sacked!!! Go and look at it!”
But Arsenal fans refused to back down, with one saying: “Just take the L man.”
Another declared: “Some people is not the same as the whole fanbase. Many of us still had faith in Arteta and look where we are now.”
One added: “This was a horrendous call, don’t double down, just accept you got it massively wrong.”